To batter, add 1 c. freeze-dried coconut and 2 tsp. cinnamon for Coconut Pancakes. Or drop frozen/fresh blueberries or sliced strawberries onto cakes while in pan cooking for Berry Pancakes. Mash 2 bananas and add mashed to batter with 1/2 c. walnuts or pecans for Banana Pancakes. Drop 1/4 c. portions on hot buttered skillet and smooth out with a spoon if too thick. Cook until golden on both sides, reserve to a rack until serving. Serve with butter and grade B maple syrup, applesauce, or preserves. Freeze extras on single sheets of wax paper or parchment in gallon bags. Reheat in toaster.

The time has come for me to bite the bullet and surrender to that which every holistic practitioner has said – try cutting out dairy completely from your atopic (eczema) child’s diet and watch the drastic improvement. I did it – and it’s working. Enter coconut milk. Yummy for all.

Mix with a whisk eggs, coconut milk, cinnamon, vanilla, honey. Heat skillet to medium high and melt 1 tbsp. butter for each slice of bread. Dip bread into mix and coat evenly on both sides. For extra-coconutty flavor, then dip in unsweetened coconut. Cook in butter until golden brown on both sides. Reserve on a rack until ready to serve. Great with fresh milk and fruit.

Cook’s notes:

-You may substitute regular milk if you don’t have coconut milk on hand. Cream (not ultra-pasteurized!) is even better…remember it’s like you’re making a custard for the bread.

-I get Thai Kitchen brand coconut milk on amazon.com’s Subscribe and Save for a very competitive price.

-Cut each prepared slice into sticks for the kids to dip in syrup – they love this!

-If you’ve been making merengues or macaroons all day and have a ton of egg yolks, they work lovely in place of whole eggs – just double the amount of egg yolks (for this recipe 4-6).

Can you tell I just got a food mill and am loving the grater feature? I just didn’t know how fast AND delicious food can be with the right gadgets! One can never underestimate the deliciousness of freshly fried potatoes.

Hash Browns – serves 4

1 extra large brown baking potato, rinsed and peeled

4 tbsp. Kerrygold unsalted butter (sold at HEB in cheese section)

salt and pepper to taste

Shred potato with gadget of choice. Melt butter in your largest-bottomed skillet over high heat. Add potatoes and distribute as evenly and thinly as you can without burning your fingers. Season with pepper only. After the potato water has evaporated a bit and things are no longer pretty steamy, reduce the heat to medium. Watch for brown crispy-ness on the other side, that’s when to know to flip. I cut it into quarters at this point and flip the quarters. Watch carefully and add more butter if pan is too dry. Add *sea salt to taste and serve when both sides are evenly golden brown. Serve with eggs and toast or your favorite breakfast!

*You add salt at the end because salt draws out water and you are looking for crisp, not soggy, potatoes. You worked hard to get past the steamy stage!

Vanilla or plain yogurt for serving – about 1/4 c. per person or to taste.

Mix prepared oatmeal, cinnnamon, honey or syrup, and vanilla in a bowl to combine. Heat a large-bottomed skillet to medium-high and melt the butter. Once hot, spread the oatmeal mix as thin as possible over the bottom of the skillet like a giant pancake:

Brown until crispy, then flip in sections until evenly crispy and brown. Next, add the berries, tossing and cutting in juices:

Serve hot in bowls with plain yogurt and a touch of honey alongside. Serves 4.

These pancakes were born because I ended up with too-garlicy mashed potatoes for Emma’s tastes. I had to do something to use them up, so where did I go? Pancakes, of course! Savory ones. They turned out fabulous.

Prepare pancake batter by slightly mixing eggs in a big bowl with a fork or whisk. Next add mashed potatoes, flour, milk, salt and pepper, parsley, and optional garlic and baking soda.

Once bacon is done, remove to paper towels. Keep bacon drippings hot (med-high heat) and drop 1/4 c. blobs of batter on skillet in drippings (you may need to remove some and then add it back if you got a TON while frying). Spread thin with back of a spoon (1/4 in. thick) if not using optional baking soda. Flip when corners are dried out bubbles emerge in the center. Cook both sides to a golden brown, serve buttered and salted with bacon alongside. Cool on a baking rack and freeze for instant toaster potato pancakes!

Another one of my favorite uses for potato pancakes is eggs in purgatory – and my favorite Italian chef does it best!

This is the closest I’ve come to sweet pancakes that have the same texture and fluff as wheat pancakes. Another great thing about these is that they are virtually allergy-free. They are gluten, egg, nut, and milk free. You could add spices like cinnamon or nutmeg to make them even yummier.

Sorghum Pancakes

2 1/2 c. sorghum flour

3/4 c. tapioca flour

2 tbsp. whey

1 1/2 c. water

Mix the preceding ingredients the night before in the food processor so that they can soak about 12 hours. This makes them even more digestable. In the morning, add to the processor:

1 1/2 to 2 c. roasted butternut squash (about 1/2 large)

1/2 stick melted butter

1/4 c. honey

2/3 c. water

1 1/2 tsp. baking soda

Butter or coconut oil for pan

Process until smooth.

Preheat skillet to medium heat. Pour 1/4 c. amounts of batter, one at a time, in blobs of butter or coconut oil. After pouring, spread batter rounds no thicker than 1/2 in. with the back of a spoon. Cook until golden, about 3 minutes, then flip. Serve with honey and butter. Cool the extras on a rack and then freeze. Reheat in toaster, toaster oven, or skillet.